A member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Prof Usman Yusuf, was yesterday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC),
According to sources, who spoke to newsmen yesterday, Yusuf was arrested by a large number of EFCC operatives who stormed his residence yesterday. “A truckload of EFCC operatives stormed Prof Usman Yusuf’s residence and arrested him”, one of the sources said.
Yusuf, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, (NHIS), faced trouble during President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, following a petition submitted by a group to the Presidency and the Federal Ministry of Health, accusing him of 12 counts of misconduct and fraudulent practices.
Recall that in May 2024, Yusuf, during an interview on television, said the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of President Bola Tinubu had turned to hopelessness. According to him, instead of uplifting Nigerians with a sense of hope, the Tinubu administration has only deepened their despair over the past year.
Yusuf criticised the President’s economic management team, calling them ‘tax collectors’ rather than ‘economists’. According to him, Tinubu’s economic team “looks more like tax collectors than economists. Taxation does not grow economy; only production does”, he said.
Efforts made to reach the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, failed as his mobile line was switched-off.
